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By Lorraine Sharaf
December is a busy time as we tumble from Thanksgiving into the holidays. Families often slip back into familiar patterns—old roles, long-running stories and arguments, and the same jokes we’ve told for decades—even though we live full, independent, dynamic lives the rest of the year. Yet these shared memories can also act as an anchor, a broader history that shapes where we come from and how we grow. Our families and communities are the trunk, and we are the branches reaching outward in our own directions.
Permaculture Principle #7: Design from Patterns to Details
🕸️ Icon: Spider Web — a large pattern that creates many smaller, connected details
December is a perfect time to introduce this seventh principle that encourages us to notice the big forces that shape our landscapes before getting into the “weeds” of building and planting.
Just as a spider begins its web by laying down the strong outer lines before adding the finer threads, permaculture design starts with the big, stable patterns that shape the land. The details fall into place more easily once the main structure is understood. The spider’s concentric and radial design shows a clear pattern, even though the smaller details vary each time, depending on its function.
Want to learn more about spider web construction and functions? Spider Web Construction
🔍 Why Principle 7 Matters
Nature starts with broad strokes—sunlight, rainfall, temperature, slope, wildlife movement—not tiny details. When we design with these patterns instead of against them, everything becomes more efficient, intuitive, and resilient.
December, with its bare trees, low angled light, and exposed ground, is a good month to see these patterns clearly.
☀️ Sun Patterns
The sun’s arc is one of the most reliable patterns in nature. In Bucks County, the winter sun sits low and to the south, casting long shadows. Click for a year-round sun guide for Bucks County: Bucks County Seasonal Sun Guide
Winter makes it easier to notice:
warm pockets against south-facing stone or siding- shaded areas that stay icy
- spots that get only brief winter light
- places where snow melts first—strong microclimate clues
warm pockets against south-facing stone or sidingThese observations are a good starting point for design:
- Put veggie beds where the morning sun is consistent.
- Place shade-lovers on the north/east sides of structures.
- Orient future windows or patios to capture winter warmth and avoid summer heat.
Once you see the sun pattern, the smaller questions—where to put tomatoes, trellises, or herbs—become much easier.
💧 Water Patterns
Water is predictable: it flows downhill, collects in dips, evaporates from warm spots, and runs off hard surfaces.
Observe after rain or snowmelt:
- where puddles persist
- which spots dry quickly
- how stormwater moves across your property
- icy areas that reveal drainage issues
- roof runoff zones
where puddles persistDesigning with water might mean:
- placing rain gardens where water already lingers
- planting moisture-lovers (elderberry, bee balm, cardinal flower) in damp areas
- using trees or shrubs to slow runoff on slopes
- shaping shallow basins or swales along natural flow lines
Amazingly, there are trees and bushes that can significantly reduce or eliminate a persistently wet area. Helpful guides: Brandywine Conservancy PA Shrubs & Trees for Wet Areas; Quick Growing Guide for Wet Loving Native PA Trees & Shrubs *
Shift the water pattern and the entire landscape changes!
* Before purchasing trees or shrubs for this—or any—purpose, be sure the salesperson or arborist understands your property and your goals. Ask them to explain what the plant will need to thrive and how its water use is expected to change as it grows.
🐾 Flow Patterns (People, Wildlife & Daily Life)
Every yard—urban, suburban, or rural—has invisible “desire lines,” also known as corridors.
Look for:
- where you naturally walk (house → bird feeders and woodpile, kitchen → compost, hose → plants)
- deer or fox trails along hedgerows
- bird-flight paths between shelter and berries
- rabbit and squirrel runs
- shortcuts formed by routine winter movement
These flows show where paths want to be, where fencing should (or shouldn’t) go, and where plantings will either thrive or be trampled. On my property, we have a landscaped area that also doubles as a cut-through from a garden path to the driveway. It isn’t supposed to be a cut-through, but no one wants to take the longer way that forces us to squeeze along the side of a car. As much as we have tried to be delicate with our steps, we’ve continually trampled the plants, so now it has become its own established path.
⛰️ Landform & Slope
With vegetation dormant, it is easier to see:
- subtle rises and dips
- natural drainage channels
- frost pockets in low spots
- erosion scars
- potential sites for swales, berms, or windbreaks
These are the bones of your landscape—the things least likely to change.
🌿 Overlapping Patterns: Where the Real Magic Happens
In nature, patterns rarely exist alone. Sun, water, wind, wildlife movement, slope, and soil all interact—often in surprising or subtle ways. When two (or more) patterns overlap, they provide clues about what will thrive in a particular spot.
Overlapping patterns are the meeting places where design becomes easier and more intuitive.
Examples of Overlapping Patterns
☀️ + 💧 Sun + Water
A south-facing low spot warms early in spring and stays moist longer—ideal for elderberry, Joe-Pye weed, and swamp milkweed.
☀️ + 🐾 Sun + Wildlife Movement
A bright morning corner crisscrossed by deer trails may be perfect for strong-smelling herbs but not for black-eyed susans. The sun invites growth, but the deer decide what survives.
💨 + ❄️ Wind + Snowmelt
Wind-exposed corners lose snow quickly but stay cold. Sheltered nooks stay warmer and melt last. Together, these patterns map your winter microclimates.
⛰️ + 💧 Slope + Water Flow
A slight dip at the bottom of a gentle slope becomes a natural water collection point—ideal for a rain garden because both slope and water flow point to the same spot.
🌳 + ☀️ Trees + Sun Path
A tree that casts a small shadow in March casts a huge one in July. The sun path + canopy pattern together tell you whether a veggie bed will thrive or struggle.
Why Overlapping Patterns Matter
- They help you choose the right plant for the right place.
- They reveal microclimates you can use to your advantage.
- They prevent costly mistakes (like planting a willow tree where water never reaches).
- They show where paths, beds, or structures naturally belong.
Overlapping patterns are often where the best, most resilient design ideas come from. If you look even closer, you’ll notice micro-versions of all of these individual and overlapping patterns.
🧭 Tool: Yeoman’s Scale of Permanence
Permaculture designers use this tool to evaluate the most permanent features to the least:
- 🌤️ Climate – overarching weather patterns: sun, seasons, rainfall
- ⛰️ Landform – physical shape and features: slopes, dips, ridges
- 💧 Water – flow, infiltration, pooling
- 🚶 Access – roads, driveways, paths, desire lines
- 🌳 Vegetation & Wildlife – trees and existing plant communities
- 🌡️ Microclimates – warm pockets, shady corners
- 🏠 Structures – houses, outbuildings, land-use boundaries/fences
- 🌱 Soil – soil types and conditions
Designing from patterns to details means that we start at the top of this list and work down to avoid mistakes such as planting blueberries in full shade or a rain garden in a permanent dry spot.
🌿 From Pattern → to Detail
Once we understand the big patterns, the smaller decisions become obvious:
- A sunny winter corner becomes next year’s herb bed.
- A soggy patch becomes a future rain garden or a swath of Joe-Pye weed.
- A deer trail tells you where not to plant tempting shrubs.
- A well-used shortcut becomes the perfect location for a permanent path.
- A wind-exposed corner calls for evergreens to slow winter gusts.
Patterns create the framework and the details bring it to life.
🌱 December Permaculture Tip
Take a slow walk around your yard after a light snow or rain. Notice where water pools, where frost lingers, how the low sun moves, and where wildlife travels. These winter observations reveal the big patterns that shape your land and they’ll help make your spring decisions easier and more accurate.
An excellent and thorough overview of patterns! Hopefully this will give a lot of people something to think about over the winter as they look out on their yards and landscapes.
This is an amazing December article. Once you understand the bigger patterns. It makes it so much easier to place and build successful gardens.